Mark W. Sorensen (MS ’98), official Macon County historian, received the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) Lifetime Achievement Award on Saturday, April 25, in a ceremony in the House of Representatives’ Chamber of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois. The award was presented during the annual ISHS awards presentation to the state’s best history teachers, authors, and museum workers.
A former Decatur history teacher, Sorensen retired from the Illinois State Archives after twenty years as assistant director. He has been active in the not-for-profit Illinois State Historical Society for the past twenty-five years, where he recently served as president. He has served locally on Decatur’s Historical and Architectural Sites Commission and on the board of the Governor Richard J. Oglesby Mansion Historic Site.
Sorensen was the consulting archivist for the Moweaqua Coal Mine history project and wrote the history of the mine and the biographies of the miners who were killed in the 1932 disaster; authored a history of women’s suffrage in Illinois; published the early history of the Illinois State Library; and delivered numerous presentations about the art and history of the Illinois State Capitol. His other articles focus on unknown documents about future President Zachary Taylor in Illinois and the contributions of George Rogers Clark in Illinois during the War of 1812.
In his current role as secretary of the Decatur Public Library Board of Trustees, Sorensen is assisting with the creation of the library’s new local history room. He also is preparing biographies of each of the men who were associated with the 1920-21 Decatur Staleys football club (later to become the Chicago Bears) for forthcoming Staley Museum in Decatur; he previously has published articles about the role of George Halas, a member of the U of I class of 1918 and founder of the Chicago Bears, in this endeavor.
In addition to his GSLIS degree, Sorensen also holds an MA in history from the University of Illinois at Springfield. While a student at GSLIS, he had five articles published in Illinois Libraries, including Books at the Millennium and Censorship and the Public Librarian.